The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-10
Arguing With the Commission.


The railroads of Florida are very much
dissatisfied with the passenger and freight
rates which the Railroad Commission of
that State has published Against the pas
senger rate OF three cents mile they enter
very strong protest In support Of their
| protest they urge that three cents mile VIII
! leave them no margin of profit, and in the
! cases of some, if not most of them the rate
is not sufficient to meet actual expenses.
The commission, doubtless, is anxious TO
| do what is fair between the railroads and
the people, but in endeavoring TO give the
people as many benefits as possible under
the railroad commission law, it SHOULD not
forget to be Just to the railroads 1t Will
hardly be denied that the railroads are
much better acquainted with their business
than the commission can possibly be. They
know what their receipts and expenses are,
and they can form very fair estimate of
what increase in business they can depend
upon When they say emphatically, there
fore, that if they are permitted to charge
no more than three cents mile they will
either have to run their trains at a loss or
give the people an inferior service, the
commission should hesitate about insisting
upon that rate. Before the commission de
cides upon rate finally it should satisfy
itself beyond reasonable donbt that it is
not only ample for all purposes of expenses,
but will afford fair profit.
There is no part of Florida that is very
thickly settled, and most of the State is
sparsely populated. 1t will be several years,
even if the growth of the State in wealth
and population continues to be remarkably
rapid, before the railroads even in the most
favored sections can be operated profitably
at the passenger and freight rates which
prevail in the thickly populated States.
The railroads have done more for Florida
than any other agency. They have penetra-
ted the wilderness where it didn't pay
them to do 50. They were influenced, how
ever, by the hope of rewards in the near fu-
ture, but not in every case has this hope
been realized. As matter of fact none of
the roads Of the State has become rich from
its earnings. One of the most important of
them is now in a receivers hands, and will
soon be sold to the highest bidder.
The railroads ought not, of course, to be
permitted to charge excessive rates, but it
cannot be determined what are excessive
rates from a comparison of the rates of the
roads of the State with those of the roads of
States in which the passenger and freight
traffic is greater. What are fair rates can
only be determined from a knowledge of
tine receipts and expenses of the roads of
the State.
In his remarks before the commission at
Tallahassee, the other day, Col. Owens, of
the Savannah, Florida and Western rail
way, called attention to something that had
doubtless escaped the attention of the COM
mission, if, indeed, it ever knew of it. He
pointed out that railroad ties and bridges in
Florida last only three years. 1t is doubt
full if there is any other locality in this
country where they decay so quickly In
these two items the Florida roads have a
heavy expense, which the roads of other
States escape.
The commission cannot afford to fix the
rates arbitrarily 1t must not only take
into consideration the business of the roads
and their expenses, but also the effect that
the rates it finally fixes will have upon rail-
road building To take from the roads all
chance of making anything upon their in
vestments will check railroad enterprises,
interfere with immigration and give the
State set back from which it will not
quickly recover.